re: Here's why Bitcoin is the future of money(Posted by WikiTiger on 5/2/13 at 12:27 pm to Oizers)

quote:I have an order of two ASIC miners from Butterfly Labs. They have started shipping and I need to confirm my order before they ship mine. Do you think I should keep the order or cancel it?

Depends on your own attitude towards risk. I never trusted Butterfly Labs enough to order anything from them.

What is your expected ship date? I mean, if you do eventually get your miners within the next 6 months, you will at the very least break even, and most likely will make money with them in the long run, however it ain't like you're going to be living high on the hog either.

re: Here's why Bitcoin is the future of money(Posted by Poodlebrain on 5/2/13 at 12:29 pm to Oizers)

What is the breakeven point for your investment? Your costs are the cost of hte ASIC miners plus the cost of operating your computer (mostly electricity and internet access). Compare your costs to the number of Bitcoins you would have to mine at various conversion prices. You will then be able to make a more informed determination if the expense and effort are worth the possible rewards.

re: Here's why Bitcoin is the future of money(Posted by Vols&Shaft83 on 5/2/13 at 12:32 pm to Oizers)

Dear God, really? Would you have any other use for those Miners? I suppose you could use them in the winter if your heater broke. I can think of a lot of other things that would be a better use of your money, like putting it in a bag and throwing it off the edge of a cliff, and that's just off the top of my head.

re: Here's why Bitcoin is the future of money(Posted by Poodlebrain on 5/2/13 at 12:42 pm to WikiTiger)

How can you state that he will at the very least break even without even determining the number of Bitcoins required to break even? Suppose Butterfly Labs ships 100,000 units of ASIC miners with equal or greater computational power, then what are his chances of mining any Bitcoins? Your answer completely ignores any economic considerations. That is the ticket to success in any business venture.

re: Here's why Bitcoin is the future of money(Posted by LSURussian on 5/2/13 at 1:09 pm to C)

quote:Do miners get transactions fees?

Wiki says the fees are low, fractions of a btc carried out several decimal places. So how many times does a single bitcoin have to turn over before the fees become significant? A hundred times? A thousand?

And with the btc being available for mining getting smaller (I think I read where 25 is the largest number "released" at any one time now and a miner shares what is mined with the pool he is in), it is just incredible that wiki would promise someone "you will break even at least."

re: Here's why Bitcoin is the future of money(Posted by WikiTiger on 5/2/13 at 2:09 pm to Poodlebrain)

quote:Would you care to explain the entries for 12.03.2013 and all more recent news items for those of us technically challenged?

the 12.03.2013 event was the well publicized unintended blockchain fork. it was resolved quickly. it was heavily discussed here on this board with many of the famous bitcoin haters proclaiming the death of bitcoin.

the other events seems pretty minor, did you have a specific one you wanted addressed?

quote:Is it common to earn 4% of a mined block since that is required to earn your almost 1 whole Bitcoin?

It all depends on how much power you have to contribute. The more computing power you have, the more shares you can contribute.

quote: What does "invalid" mean with respect to block 234107?

It's an orphan block. It's a normal occurrence and nothing to be concerned about.